On Sept. 13, 1788, the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election, and declared New York City the temporary national capital.
In 1911 singer-songwriter and bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe was born in Rosine, Ky.
In 1948 Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was elected to the Senate — the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.
In 1949 the Ladies Professional Golf Association of America was formed in New York City, with Patty Berg as its first president.
In 1971 a convicts’ rebellion at Attica prison in upstate New York ended as police and guards stormed the prison; the four-day ordeal killed 43 people.
In 1977 conductor Leopold Stokowski died at 95 in Hampshire, England.
In 1990 “Law & Order” premiered on NBC.
In 1993, at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.
In 1994 about 180 nations adopted a 20-year blueprint at a UN-sponsored conference in Cairo for slowing the world’s population growth.
In 1998 former Alabama Gov. George Wallace died at 79.
In 2001 President Bush called the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington “the first war of the 21st Century.” Meanwhile, jetliners returned to the nation’s skies for the first time in two days, carrying nervous passengers who faced strict new security measures.
In 2003 Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon died in Chicago at 73.
